Oedipus 'X'
by Ms.Bkw0rm
Summary: Who is this girl? What does she want with him? Why is he so intrigued by her? And what the heck is the deal with her last name?
1. Research

_Disclaimer+A/N: I do not own "Teen Titans" or any other DC characters that may appear in this fic. My OC's name is taken from the Class of the Titans episode #40. However, this OC is NOT the same character as her namesake, nor was she modeled of off the original COTT character. I had developed this OC on my own, and, realizing how perfectly the name fit with the concepts and another character I will be working with, decided to give it to her. Also, the single most important trait of the COTT character, as well as much of her personality and actions, have no application in this fic. This is why I do not consider this story a crossover. For those of you who have seen this episode of COTT, you will probably very quickly realize who and what I am talking about. Now, let us commence!_

* * *

Ryan stood deliberating in front of the old-fashioned card catalogues, only the slight frown on his face betraying any hint of frustration. There was no way he would be able to find what he was looking for at this rate.

He heard a gentle, attention-grabbing cough from behind him, and he turned to see a blonde girl with hazel eyes of about sixteen years of age smiling sweetly at him. The library staff card on the lanyard around her neck identified her as " _Josephine_ ". "May I help you?" she questioned, shifting the pile of books in her arms to her other hip.

"Uh . . . yeah. I'm looking for information on use and storage of radioactive isotope based fuel compounds . . . ?" He trailed off, still shocked by her sudden appearance.

"Josephine's" smile broadened. "Follow me. I think I know of some books that might help you." She headed towards the back of the library, and he stayed close behind her, slightly off to the side.

"So, how old are you?" she asked, and abruptness of the question startled him.

"Seventeen," he replied, too flustered to consider the wisdom of revealing his age to a complete stranger, albeit a very pretty and amiable one who couldn't be out of high school yet. Still, curiosity nagged at him. "Why do you ask?"

"You just seemed a little young to be interested in university-level chemistry," she explained, pausing for a moment to orient herself among the shelves.

Ryan tensed very slightly, knowing he would have to tread carefully to avoid revealing too much. "It's for an extra credit assignment for my science class," he offered in the way of explanation.

"Ah, the industrious sort," Josephine said as if she now comprehended the situation.

"You might say that . . . " he replied, in an admittedly awkward attempt to evade further questioning without revealing too much. Luckily, the girl seemed unaware of his distress, having found the aisle she was looking for and leading him down it.

"Here we are," she announced, stopping before one of the shelves. "Let's see . . ." she murmured, running her fingertips across the weathered spines. She pulled three volumes that resembled textbooks off the shelf and handed them to Ryan, still cradling the books she had been carrying before. "These should be able to help you out." The hardcovers she gave him were surprisingly heavy, and he found himself impressed with her strength.

"Thank you . . . Josephine?" he attempted, and was reassured by her smile.

"You're very welcome . . ." she drew out the word, giving him a look of expectation, and he realized she was waiting for a name.

"Ryan Scott," he answered after a brief mental scramble.

"It's nice to meet you, Ryan," she said with another brilliant smile. Before he could reply, she went on, "You know, there's another book that I think would be really helpful for you; it has really good info and great diagrams, but it looks like all the copies are currently checked out. I have my next shift Monday evening, though, and one of the copies is due that day, so if you come back then I can set it aside and make sure it gets to you."

"Really?" he asked, and when she nodded and made a noise of confirmation, he said, "Wow, that would be great! Thanks!"

She nodded again, still smiling, and said, "I'll see you on Monday then."

As she began to turn away, he realized something, and, wanting to see her reaction almost as much as to know the information itself, called after her, "You know, I never got a last name from you."

She paused and looked back over her shoulder with that same radiant smile on her face. "X," she said simply, before turning again and walking calmly out of the aisle.

Ryan was stunned by her answer for a moment, unsure whether he had heard her correctly, then recollected himself and rushed out past the shelves after her. She had already disappeared. He slowly returned to the spot where she had taken the books from, not knowing what he thought or even how he felt. His brow was furrowed and his gaze unfocused as breathed a single syllable into the silence:

" _X?_ "

On the other side of the shelf that Ryan stood beside, a brightly-clad figure narrowed masked eyes. Robin wasn't sure who this girl was, or what exactly her intentions were, but his intuition told him that, despite her seemingly candid demeanor, she was up to something ulterior. Even besides that, what he had just overheard was beginning to raise some suspicions and theories about her new "friend".

He was definitely going to be here on Monday evening.

* * *

 _A/N: Wait, Robin was watching them the whole time? But was that WHY_ _he was there in the first place? And who are "them" exactly? "X" can't be Josephine's real last name, can it? (Speaking of which, three cheers for any of you COTT fans who know the title of the episode "Josephine X" comes from and leave it in a review!) And why did Ryan react the way that he did when he found out? But, wait, is "Ryan Scott" Ryan's real name either? What are these theories that Robin is formulating about him? What exactly does he want to know about radioactive isotope based fuel compounds? Why is he trying to research it in a library when there's an internet cafe just down the street with free WiFi? If your head isn't buzzing with at least this many questions after reading, drink some coffee, make sure you're awake this time, and try again. If you're still having problems, please leave a review telling what I did wrong so that this fic can be worthy of the genre "Suspense". If you ARE asking yourself any of the questions above, stay alert for future updates! And, feel free to post any of your own theories in a review, though you might find yourself surprised in later chapters! After all, even I'M not entirely sure what all the answers are yet!_


	2. Resolution

_A/N: Welcome back to Chapter Two! Sorry if this chapter took a long time coming; it'll probably be a pretty common occurrence. Also sorry if some of the technical jargon in this story doesn't make much sense; it doesn't really need to. Just pretend that it all means something really scientific about radioactive stuff and be content to be like Beast Boy listening to one of Cyborg's little rants, and you should do just fine. Oh, and congratulations to those of you who figured out that the COTT episode title was called "Breathtaking Beauty". That sort of theme may play in more in later chapters. Further up and further in!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own 'Teen Titans' or any other DC characters._

* * *

"Ryan, over here."

He turned at the sound of the half-whispered call to see her standing by one of the tables, waving at him. He slung his backpack over one shoulder and started to head over, relieved that Josephine hadn't forgotten about their agreement. He didn't know if he could stand to spend another hour flipping through card catalogues so faded they were pretty much illegible.

"Hey," he said quietly as he approached, hanging his backpack on the back of a chair before sitting in it.

She gave him that enchanting smile again as she slid a large hardcover book across the table to him. "Here's the book I was telling you about."

"Thanks," he said as he opened it and began to flip towards the index. "Hopefully this will be more helpful than the others have been."

A worried frown creased Josephine's features. "What do you mean?" she asked in a tone of concern. "Didn't they have what you were looking for?"

"Not exactly," he replied, with the best apologetic face he could come up with. He had been preparing this response ever since he had searched through the first batch of textbooks and come up empty. "I probably should have told you this in the first place, but, you see, my project is less research based and more...practical, I guess you could say. The goal is to come up with a viable design for storage of highly radioactive fuel source compounds, then submit it for a sort of judging. These books would be great if I was writing a report, but..."

She put up a hand to stop him. "I get it," she assured him. "And I think I know how to really help you with this project."

He was more than a little surprised, and he was sure that it showed on his face. "You do?" he asked in incredulity.

She smiled and nodded excitedly. "We have copies of some old scientific journals and papers on microfilm. It should give some more helpful info, you know, data charts, formulas, equations, that kind of thing. I can get you access to them if you want."

"That would be terrific, thanks." He was a bit astounded by everything she was doing for him. "Are you sure it's not to much trouble, though? I mean, you've been helping me with a ton of stuff - "

She cut him with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'm a library _volunteer_ ,"she reminded him. "If I didn't want to be helpful, I wouldn't have volunteered."

"I guess that's true," he admitted, getting up to follow her to the front desk. When they reached it, Josephine leaned in to have a whispered conversation with the librarian on duty and came away in triumphant possession of the key to the basement archives.

Ten minutes later, and Ryan was sitting in front of an ancient looking microfiche reader with his notebook on the desk beside him, one hand on the lever allowing him to scroll up and down, the other ready to holding a ballpoint pen, ready to scribble down any notes or sketches he might need. As he skimmed through the material, he found that it was definitely much better than the textbooks he'd been looking at before, though there was still a great deal of information that he needed to complete his "project", not to mention _tons_ more microfilm left to filter through the machine. There was no way he was going to be able to finish his research today.

Josephine came by with a cart of books that she was in the process of shelving. "Just thought I'd see how you were doing," she explained. "Having any luck?"

"Actually, yes," he was pleased to report. "I definitely got a lot of good stuff. But I'm going to need more time to finish sorting through everything."

"Oh, that's no problem," she chirped. "I'll leave a note at the desk. Just ask whoever's on duty there to look at "Jo's list" and they'll be able to get you whatever you need."

"That's great," he replied, feeling a smile spread across his face. "Hopefully I'll be able to get a good grade on this."

As Josephine left to continue her shelving and Ryan began to pack up his things, he formed a new resolve. Even with all the material he had left to examine, he suspected that it wasn't going to be enough for him to successfully complete his "project". If his next session in front of the microfiche reader didn't yield the information he needed, he was going to be taking a more _direct_ approach with his research.

He finished putting his supplies back into his bag and headed out of the library, failing to notice the figure watching him from behind an almost comically oversized newspaper in the shadows of an empty corner. Robin had remained true to his resolution to be present at this next meeting, and some of the things he had observed over the past couple of hours were beginning to confirm his original suspicions about "Ryan Scott". As for Miss Josephine...he knew he was going to have to wait and see before drawing any definitive conclusions about her just yet. Even so, he knew he now had very good reasons to continue keeping track of both of these two, and he was certainly going to do so. It was just a matter of making certain and biding his time until he made his own move.

* * *

 _A/N: Now just what is Ryan really up to? And for that matter, what is Robin up to, spying on civilians in the library? Or are they civilians? Hmm . . . In any case, it seems we'll have to wait to find out more. Thanks to all of you who weren't too irritated with me after the first chapter to not come back! I promise, the pace of this story will start to pick up very soon! Though whether that will applying to updating is another question entirely . . ._

 _Please feel free to leave a review on your theories about our mysterious characters and their motivations; you might come closer to the truth than you think! Also, don't be afraid to leave any (reasonable) criticism, and especially please point out any typos or grammatical errors so I can fix them. Thank you, and see you next chapter!_


	3. Planning

_A/N: Welcome back to Chapter Three! Now, I know you're all probably starting to get fed up with all of this "research at the library" stuff, but just hang in there for one more chapter, please! Then we'll_ really _get to the action! For now, though, it's just another regular boring day of scrolling through microfilm and chatting with library volunteers and being unwittingly spied on by heroes for our protagonist...or is it?_

 _Special thanks to runner (guest) for reviewing both previous chapters and offering encouragement as well as advice. Thank you so much for your support thus far!_

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story except the concept and my OC. That doesn't mean that she doesn't just do what she wants to, though!_

* * *

Ryan rubbed his eyes, which were exhausted after another grueling session with the microfiche reader. As he had suspected, the material available at the library hadn't given him all the information he needed for the sake of his "project", meaning that he was soon going to have to resort to the method which he had resolved to use if it became necessary. Not that he minded much, he had been getting out of practice with his main "hobby" lately, and he was eager to put his more familiar skills to good use once again. Though the "good" part might be a bit debatable...

He had purposely timed this visit to be here during Josephine's Friday shift in the hope that he would be able to talk to her some more and see what he could figure out about her. In the first of these objectives, at least, he wasn't disappointed. She had come by earlier during a lull in shelving assignments to check up on his progress, and ended up looking at some of the diagrams and preliminary plans he had drawn out. Much to his surprise, she had begun pointing out various flaws in his basic design and giving him advice for different improvements. All he'd managed to gather about her, however, was that she had an impressive knowledge of both mechanics and chemistry, though he'd tried to do a little digging in casual conversation.

"Are you still in school?" he'd asked nonchalantly as she was lightly sketching out one of her over his diagram of circuitry.

"I'm taking a few morning courses at the local community college a couple days a week," was the easy, though very general, answer. "But most of my time is taken up with work."

"And what kind of job do you have?"

"I work as a waitress in a cafe in the afternoon. So if you connect this end of this one to the core regulator like that then you can decrease the bulk of the wires by up to thirty percent..." And so while he ended up with several good ideas for improving the design of his xenothium power adaptor, he had learned next to nothing about his new friend. He now felt at liberty to at least name Josephine as a friend since, when he asked her afterwards if she might be able to assist him with the project, seeing as she seemed to know what needed to be done, she had agreed to help him.

"I have tomorrow afternoon off, if that works for you."

"That's perfect. Two o'clock?"

"It's a date."

While he actually could use her help, his main motivation in asking had been to gain more opportunities to probe her. He had always prided himself on being able to read people fairly easily, but she had proved practically impossible to gauge, and it intrigued him. He wanted to be able to solve the puzzle of "Josephine X".

Now, as he prepared to leave the library, Ryan knew that he had a great deal to do in preparation for their meeting tomorrow. He still needed to conduct his extra "research", and that in itself would require precise planning. In all of his previous similar expeditions, he had never been successfully captured, and he planned to preserve that record. Still, he was itching to get back to what he really did best. It was long past time for him to suit up again and have a little fun.

Even as he was thinking these things, the masked hero peeking at him through the shelves was beginning to suspect his intentions. Not that Robin was a mind reader, or even that Ryan was giving his intentions away with his body language. But the teen detective was sure that, if he was correct in his guess of the other boy's identity, he had a very good idea of what "Ryan" was planning for the near future.

He was going to be keeping his eye out for Red X's name on the crime alert.

* * *

 _A/N: Dun, dun, duuhhhn! Ryan's identity has been revealed! I was thinking about teasing you for one more chapter before making it official, but then I figured that you probably guessed it when I mentioned xenothium, anyways. Anyone care to leave a review with a guess about what this "research" that he's going to be doing is? It's probably way too obvious, but you never know! To runner: I apologize for another short chapter, but this story is really more of a side project compared to my main fic, Resurrection, and it's a lot easier to get out quicker updates this way. (Plus, this was really all the stuff that I wanted to put in this chapter anyways!) So, all of the chapters will probably be pretty close to this length, give or take a couple hundred words. Probably. I didn't plan out very precisely, so we'll see. In any case, hopefully you keep reading and reviewing! See you in Chapter 4!_


	4. Unmasked - or, Ungloved?

_A/N: Hey everyone! Chapter four is here, and any remaining doubts you had about Ryan's identity are about to be completely erased. But what is he up to, exactly? Well, you no longer have to wait any longer to find out! Enjoy! Sorry this chapter took me FOREVER to put out, but it's much longer than the rest, so hopefully it was worth the wait!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, otherwise it would be full of way too many Beast Boy-ish crazy conspiracy theories about characters and background stories and whatnot. Which is how_ Resurrection _came to be. (I promise I will be updating that soon!) Anyways, move along! (...Nothing to see heeere...)_

* * *

At last, he had made it. Red X smiled in satisfaction to himself beneath the mask. It had taken the better part of an hour waiting silently beneath the cramped interior space of an unused desk before the stodgy old professor had left his office to use the restroom. The nearest one was, according to the building floor plan, a fair distance away, giving him, at minimum, five minutes to complete his work, two more than he needed. True, he could have easily incapacitated the man while he was still in the room and accomplished his goal much more quickly, but that would have had the tendency to attract attention, and while he certainly enjoyed making use of showmanship, stealth was his object for this particular mission. As he was going to be spending much more time with Josephine in the near future, presumably getting to know each other better, he wanted for there to be as little evidence as possible that might lead her to connect "Ryan Scott's science project" to the theft of important research on xenothium. This was a large part of why he was planning on not actually stealing the documents.

He made his way over to the safe in which he had seen the professor place papers earlier. Thirty seconds, and the he had overridden the locking mechanism with his suit. He opened the door cautiously, but quickly, and was easily able to find the documents he was looking for. One minute of scanning using one of his few, pocket-sized homemade devices, and he had everything he had come for. He made sure to replace everything as he had found it and closed the safe door, the lock automatically engaging. Crouching down before one of the walls, he pulled the register of the air duct, having already been removed to permit his entrance, and slid in backwards, pulling the grate shut behind him, just as he reached the three-minute time limit that he had set for himself. By the time the professor made it back to the room another three minutes later, out of breath from the walk, the thief was already well on his way towards escape through the ventilation systems.

He climbed out onto the roof of S.T.A.R.R. Labs, pleased that everything had gone according to plan. That is, until he heard a familiar voice from behind him say, "Not so fast, Red X." Mentally cursing, he turned around to find himself confronted with none other than the Teen Titans. _Of course_.

 _'_ _Drat,'_ he thought to himself. _'Must've triggered a silent alarm when I opened the safe. Stupid, stupid, stupid!'_ Out loud, however, through the voice modulator in his mask, he said, "Well, well, well. I'm surprised you all came out. I would've thought you kids had something better to do than waste your time trying to catch me."

"I wouldn't be so cocky," shot back Robin, who had been the one to speak earlier. "You never know how close we are to finding out who's hiding behind that mask."

X let out a mocking laugh. "Whatever you say, kid. Just keep on guessing." And with that he teleported behind them before leaping away onto the next roof with a goading call of, "Let's see if you can keep up!" Truthfully, he actually worried a great deal about the security of his identity, which was why he had gone to such lengths to try to keep this theft undiscovered. But one of the things he had learned very early on in his career was that, if there was anything about Red X that irritated the Boy Blunder, it was his constant easy and cool-headed arrogance no matter the situation, so unlike the detective's own quick temper that he still could not seem to keep under control. And so the thief played this to his advantage, always being careful never to show any sign of frustration or fear, in order to further aggravate him.

A volley of starbolts were hurled at him from one side; easy enough to dodge. The same applied to the obsidian encased objects that came at him from the other direction a moment later. Cyborg being released above him from the claws of the green pterodactyl was simply too predictable; he rolled swiftly to the side to avoid being crushed, shooting a sticky 'x' at the flying reptile as he unfurled himself before using the shoulder of the half-robot as a springboard to the next rooftop. The steel-toed boot swinging towards his face startled him a bit, but he took care not to show it as he ducked just in time to avoid being on the receiving end of a fierce kick. The acrobat was thrown off balance for an instant, giving the thief a chance to sprint past him towards the far edge of the roof. Normally, he would have taken the opportunity to anger him with an attack and a taunt. Today, however, he was more concerned about his schedule. The long wait hidden inside the office had already eaten up almost an hour of his time, and this fight was only serving to delay him further.

His hopes for a quick escape wavered when Raven appeared out of a portal directly in front of him. They flickered even more as the rest of the Titans began to close in on him: Starfire from above, Beast Boy and Cyborg from each side, and Robin from behind. "Looks like there's no where for you to run," Cyborg called with an tone of triumph.

Red X allowed his façade to completely take over, adopting an air of lazy confidence as he smugly asked, "Who said I'm running anywhere?"

He smirked behind the mask as he saw confusion overtake the expressions of the heroes. Behind him, he heard Robin desperately shout, "Guys, look out! He's going to - "

He pressed one of the buttons on his belt then, sublimating into the trademark Red X symbol before materializing several yards behind Robin. "Too late, Bird Boy," he mocked, before leaping off the roof of the building into empty space. The teen heroes made to the edge just in time to see the large, red 'x' flash two stories below them before disappearing.

"Man, I shoulda remembered that little trick," Cyborg berated himself.

Raven levitated towards him. "Don't beat yourself up. It's Red X's speciality to draw someone's focus away from what he can really do. Besides, you know we haven't seen the last of him."

They all understood what she meant. Sooner or later, the thief would return to the spotlight with some other target in mind. Speaking of targets...

"Whaddya think he was after this time?" asked Beast Boy. He addressed the entire group, but everyone was expecting the answer to come from Robin.

"The alert said that the document safe of one of the researchers had been broken into," he mused half to himself as he continued to gaze over the edge of the roof. "But he didn't seem to be carrying anything to hold papers in, not even a portfolio."

"Maybe he was unable to retrieve what he was looking for?" suggested Starfire.

"Maybe," the detective said unconvinced. "But when we first saw him, he was leaving; we weren't interrupting a search. As if he'd already gotten what he'd come for."

The others glanced nervously between themselves, expecting Robin's "obsessive mode" to kick in any time now. To their surprise, his clouded expression suddenly cleared as he turned back towards them and said, "I don't think it's too important, though. There'll be time to follow up on it later. For now, why don't we grab some lunch?"

The rest of the Titans held a whispered conference as they followed their leader to the T-Car. "He is never this indifferent when it comes to the tracking down of a criminal," Star murmured.

"D'you think there's something wrong with him? Like, maybe he's sick or Red X hypnotized him or something," Beast Boy suggested.

"He was perfectly fine when we did monthly check up a few days ago," reminded Cyborg.

"And I doubt that there's any kind of mental control being exercised over him. I would be able to sense something like that with my empathy," Raven countered logically. "He's definitely acting under his own volition, but I don't think he's really planning to let the matter rest. He seems to be plotting something - what exactly I can't tell, even with our mental bond. Whatever it is, he seems almost excited by the prospect."

"Do you believe we should confront him about this?" the alien princess asked worriedly.

"Star's got a point," the half robot conceded. "After all, the last time he kept secrets about Red X from us..."

"It's true that the situation didn't end well," the empath broke in. "But he learned his lesson from that experience. I'm sure that if he's withholding information from us, it's because he truly believes that it's the right thing to do under the circumstances. In the meantime, we just have to trust that he knows what he's doing, and that, if this is something we should know about, he'll tell us when the time is right."

With that, she swept ahead of them after Robin, leaving the remaining three sharing looks of doubt and concern. They knew that Raven was right about trusting Robin, but they couldn't help but worry that things would begin to spiral out of control like during the first "Red X incident". Still, there was nothing for them to do except continue to make their way towards their customary pizzeria.

* * *

It was old hat for Red X to sneak back in through the single window of what passed for a two room apartment, as far as he and everyone else who lived in this area of Jump City was concerned. There were no cameras anywhere in the building; the owner hardly seemed to care what went on in and around the place, which was probably why they had allowed a lease to be granted to him, at the time an orphaned minor without any source of stable income (at least, not one that he could safely write down on the form). The walls were no thicker than cardboard, and most of his furniture consisted of empty upturned cabbage crates, which wasn't much better than what he'd had on the streets, but at least he wasn't on the top floor, so he stayed dry when it rained. Really, all he was doing was paying a couple dollars a day for a roof. That, and a place to store the Red X suit that wasn't a cabbage crate.

As he began to upload the information into his (stolen) phone, he glanced at the wall clock that sat leaning against a crate on the floor. Instantly, panic spiked through him. He was supposed to be meeting Josephine at the library in less than twenty minutes! He hastily stripped off the suit and donned street clothes, all the while berating himself for sticking around to fight the Titans when he'd already lost so much time waiting inside the lab. He snatched up the phone from on top of another crate just as the data finished uploading before rushing out, grabbing his bag with his notes in it as he passed them and just barely remembering to lock the door behind him.

* * *

He burst through the library doors, panting, with enough of a racket to make the middle aged lady running the front desk to give him a stern glare and hiss, "Shh!" Doing his best to compose himself, he made his way over to the back table where he and Josephine had agreed to meet. She was there already, waiting for him and twirling a pencil between her fingers, with a few papers spread out in front of her. Her expression brightened when she saw him, and she flashed him her winning smile, making him even more flustered than he already was. As he set down his stuff he blurted out in a half whisper, "I'm so sorry I'm late, but I was doing something else and I lost track of time and missed the bus so I had to run here and -" He stopped abruptly in shock as she suddenly leaned forward and grabbed his left wrist, the hand that he had used to hold onto his backpack. As she pulled his hand out between them, he was horrified to see that he was still wearing the charcoal colored glove with its distinctive red 'x' on the palm and back of the hand, and he realized that in his scramble to not be late, he had forgotten to take it off.

He could do nothing but continue to gape as Josephine pushed the tip of her thumb under the edge of the glove and, pinching it with two fingers, slid it smoothly off of his hand. Never losing a mite of her elegant composure, she put it into the pocket of her jeans before releasing his wrist. "We should probably get started," she said calmly, picking up her pen and gesturing towards the papers as if nothing had happened.

Ryan continued to stare at her before he was finally able to whisper, "Yeah." He sat down, consumed by equal parts wonder and dread. _'There's no way she didn't recognize it. Even if she didn't, she must have understood my expression. So why isn't she reacting? What if...no, she couldn't have already known, could she? Is she planning to turn me in? At least I never told her my real name...But why would she take the glove? Oh, no, it must have my DNA all over it! If she gives it to the police..."_ Thoughts like these plagued him throughout the duration of their meeting, and he was barely able to focus on the advice and instruction Josephine was giving him. He contemplated trying to steal the glove back from her, but it was in the pocket furthest from him, and while he was a decent pickpocket, he doubted that he had the capacity to reach around her and retrieve it without her noticing.

Thus he sat, sinking ever deeper in silent despair, and doing his best to feign a normal state of mind. He knew it was unconvincing, and the fact that Josephine was acting as though nothing was out of the ordinary only served to increase his worried panic.

"...So you can hook it up here for maximum space efficiency," she was saying, pointing to different areas of the diagram she had sketched on his notes. "And based on these research reports you found," she continued, zooming in on one corner of the document depicted on the screen on his phone, "using the kind of modulator they mention here near the end should be perfect for xenothium."

"That's perfect, thanks," he managed to reply, though he wasn't really focused on whatever she was saying. He heard a soft _beep_ come from her direction which partially jolted him back to his senses.

"Oh! Excuse me," she gasped, reaching into the pocket that didn't hold the glove and pulling out a phone. She glanced at the screen, and a smile began to spread across her face. "I just got a text from my professor saying that tomorrow's lecture is cancelled," she explained, looking up at him again. "So we could meet again tomorrow to work some more on this, if you wanted to."

"That would be great," he answered immediately, trying to preserve as much as possible the shattered image of being unaffected by what had transpired earlier. He was pretty sure that it was hopeless at this point, though, and he was debating with himself whether he would actually show up. "Does ten o'clock work for you?"

"I think so," she replied. "So I'll see you then?"

"Yeah," he said absently, still a bit dazed. "See you." He gathered his things and headed out towards the front entrance. The lady at the desk gave him another glare as he left, but he didn't notice, too preoccupied with much bigger concerns.

* * *

Masked eyes watched Ryan walk out before gliding out silently close behind him. Robin had been careful to observe at least the first part of the route that Josephine always took after exiting the library, and he made it his aim to cut her off along the way. He had decided that it was time to confront "Miss X" with a few questions of his own.

He was able to hide in an alley that he knew she would walk by on her way to the bus stop. He waited until she had passed him before slipping out behind her. "Excuse me, miss," he called out, coming up beside her.

She turned at the sound of his voice, and recognition flashed through her hazel eyes. "You're Robin, right? The Teen Titan?"

"That's right, miss," he confirmed. "I believe that you've been associating with a young man named 'Ryan Scott' recently?"

"I have," she confirmed brightly, nodding and smiling. "I've been helping him with an extra credit science project."

"Science project?" he asked as though in curiosity, his mask stretching to accommodate the raising of his eyebrows. He already knew what this "project" was from his surveillance, of course, but he wanted to gauge the girl's reaction to the question.

"Designing a xenothium power adapter," she chirped. He was a bit surprised that she had offered up the information so easily, but as he looked more closely at her expression, he realized there was something in her eyes that spoke of - a taunt? a challenge? He couldn't be entirely sure. Was she leading him on, or leading him _to_ something?

He decided to try a slightly different angle. "May I see the glove that he gave you?" Obviously, he hadn't really given it to her, but it was enough confirmation for someone as clever as she seemed to be that he had been watching them. Once again, he waited to see her reaction.

"Of course," was the cheerful response. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the requested costume piece before handing it to him with another smile. He took it and turned it over in his own gloved palms, examining it closely. He had been sure that it was the Red X glove even when he had seen it from a distance, but there was no room for doubt now. The only plausible explanation he could think of for Ryan wearing it in the library was that it had been an accident, considering the expression he had assumed when she had seen it. Still, the hero hadn't gotten what he wanted out of her. It was time to switch tactics.

"Josephine X," he murmured as he pretended to muse over the glove. "The mythological implications are fitting, really, if you think about it. You are quite a puzzle."

He received a bright laugh in response. "Well, I'll take that as a compliment, since that's what I was aiming for," she replied, her eyes twinkling merrily. "But you're a detective, aren't you? Haven't you figured me out already?"

The mocking in her voice was undeniable. "I tried, and I think I came close. But I'm going to have to employ direct interrogation for the rest," he admitted.

"Ask away."

"What exactly are you trying to do?" It wasn't the most eloquent of phrasings, but he had said he was going to be direct.

Josephine rolled her eyes upward as though considering. "Let's just say," she answered after a moment, looking back down toward him, "that for now I'm waiting to see if he can solve _my_ riddle."

"And what then?" pursued Robin.

She gave him a little teasing smile. "Well, maybe you out to go back to the library to do a little research on _that_ question."

"I will," he assured her. "Now just one more question before you go-" he held up the glove he had been holding. "-do you mind if I keep this?"

Another trademark smile. "Not at all," she replied, before starting off with a wave. As he watched her begin to walk away, something else occurred to him.

"Wait!" he called out, and she turned back towards him. "Is there any other name that I might hear of you by?"

She nodded. "Jo-Jo Connors!" she yelled back, before disappearing around the corner of a building. Robin remained standing were he was for a few moments before turning the opposite direction and heading off himself, stowing the glove in a compartment of his utility belt as he went.

* * *

 _A/N: Told you I would pick up the pace in this chapter! If there's anything that doesn't make sense or feels off, just let me know in a review or PM, and I'll try to fix it. On another note, dun dun DUN! Red X's secret identity has been semi-officially revealed (has it?) to both Josephine AND Robin! Plus now Robin has that glove..._

 _On an additional other note, did anyone catch the "mythological implications" of Josephine's name that Robin mentioned. This does have to do with that Class of the Titans episode that I mentioned in the first chapter, so you might want to go and take another look at that. This is your last chance to receive glory for either an explanation of the character name or of the mythological reference before things are fleshed out in the next chapter. So if you think you already know what I'm talking about, or can figure it out, please leave a review with your answer! Curate ut valeatis! (*Raven shakes her head and sighs at my unnecessary verbiage*)_


	5. Opening Night

_A/N: Welcome back! Sorry I disappeared for so long; life went kinda crazy for a couple months, and I suffered a semi-mild case of writers block at the same time. Hopefully, since school has let out now, things will be starting to wind down, so I'll have a little more time on my hands. (Yeah, right. Like it ever really slows down when it's supposed to.) I should be able to write more, though, at least a tiny bit :) In this chapter we're going to give Ryan a break and get a little more insight on perspective of our favorite masked detective . . . so you'll have to wait a little longer 'till we head back to the library! Hey, genre is Suspense, right? Anyways, onward and yonward! Tally-ho! (I know, I'm crazy.)_

* * *

Robin sat in front of the computer in his office. He'd gotten a name out of the girl, but he honestly wasn't all that sure what to _do_ with it. For the sake of form, he'd run it through the available villain and criminal databases with no results, as he had been expecting. It seemed his best option was to run a simple internet search.

He entered "Jo-Jo Connors" into the search field with low hopes. The results were almost instantaneous. The first entry jumped out at him: _"THE JUMP_ _CITY YOUTH THEATRE PRESENTS: HONK! JR."_ Clicking on the link, he found himself looking at an online review of a performance of a musical. It took some searching, but he finally found her name in the cast list. The description beneath it read: "Connors made her debut on stage as Penny the Swan in this musical version of the classic fable, 'The Ugly Duckling'. The director and stage manager had voiced their concern about casting her in such a large role for an amateur actress, but her performance was met with a glowing enthusiasm. Audiences were captivated by her angelic voice and the subtlety of her manner and delivery, which embodied the essence of the character. The public eagerly awaits further displays of her acting capabilities."

 _"An actress, huh? That makes sense now...let me see what other people have to say about her..."_

He found many reviews written about her various performances, and some things about her career in general. "There are a variety things that audiences will praise her for," said one writer, "but the single defining characteristic of Miss Connors is _variety itself._ She has the rare talent of being able to assume any personality, from shy and sweet, to sassy and spunky, to sorrowful, to sinister, and everything else in between. An incredible gift that she has mastered extremely well for someone of her age. With time, who knows what she will be able to accomplish?"

He stumbled across a video on the Jump City Theatre website of her performance in collection of stories and poems adapted from Edgar Allen Poe. The particular video was of the act of the play based on _The Oval Portrait_ , in which she had both played the role of "Young Lady" and, he noted with some surprise, done the voice recording for the background song, "Beautiful Dreamer" by Stephen Foster. Curiosity piqued, he clicked play.

The opening of the scene was comprised of about nine or ten chorus members wearing black clothing and heavy makeup, perched about an arrangement of set blocks and smiling so charmingly that it made him uneasy, especially when contrasted with their dark lips and the black semicircles under their eyes. A short piano intro began to play, during which another pair of actors carried a chair onstage between them and stood behind it with their backs to the audience. The words of the song began just as Young Lady entered, dancing.

He immediately recognized the blond as she twirled on stage just as the lyrics to the song began to play. She was wearing a pure white dress made out of some sort of translucent, flowing material that billowed around her as she danced something like ballet. Her hair was half up, tied back by a white ribbon.

 _"Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me..."  
_

Meanwhile, a young man wearing a smock and stereotypical artist's beret, and carrying a palate and paintbrush, entered the scene. He stopped short at the sight her, the expression on his face making it clear that he was instantly captivated by her free and easy gracefulness.

 _"Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee..."_

He approached her, showing her his palate and gesturing towards the chair. He wanted her sit so he could paint her. But she shook her head, frowning, and continued to dance.

 _"Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day,  
Lull'd by the moonlight, have all passed away..." _

Conflict ensued, with the painter trying to sit the girl in the chair while she continued to dance away from it. In the end, he forced her to sit down in the chair and pose for him.

 _"Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song..."_

The artist moved over towards the corner and began to go through the motions of painting. Then, Robin's attention was snagged by the pair of actors turning around towards the girl.

 _"List' while I woo thee with soft melody..."_

He received the sense that the two weren't entirely human as they began to grope around the girl's head with gnarled fingers tipped with long claws. Then, one of them reached behind the base of her neck and began drawing out a long, pale blue ribbon.

 _"Gone are the cares of life's busy throng,  
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me..." _

The girl reacted as though in pain. She tried frantically to grab the ribbon back from the creatures who taunted her with it, waving and dangling it just out of her reach. Then they brought it over to where a another blond girl in a black dress, whom Robin had not noticed before, was standing perfectly still on a stage block.

 _"Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me."_

The pair twirled the ribbon around her before tying it around her waist. She shifted slightly before turning sideways to the audience. The voice faded out from the music as the piano took over for a verse.

As the music continued in an interlude of the verse, the girl rose shakily from the chair, stumbled, but nevertheless resumed her dance. There was less energy in it this time, however; her steps were more hesitant and several times she seemed about to fall. Then the painter looked up from his work and saw the empty chair. Furious, he stormed over and dragged her back to the seat, forcing her to pose so that he could complete the painting. As he turned back to the canvas, the monsters returned, both pulling blue ribbons out of her. She weakly grasped at them as they brought them over to the other girl, twirling them around her and tying them around her neck and wrist. This time, the girl in black stretched before turning to directly face the audience. She smiled and turned a pirouette. The young girl attempted to get up from the chair once more and reach out to the painter for help, only for her legs to give way beneath her. As she collapsed, the creatures descended on her, drawing ribbon after ribbon. She crawled a short distance, attempting to reach the artist, to escape the demons, to take the ribbons back from them, but at last her body went entirely limp, and she remained lying there on the floor, motionless. Throughout all, the painter remained arduously absorbed in his work, seeing and hearing nothing. The chorus, on the other hand, were watching everything with their condescending smiles.

 _"Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea,  
Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelei,  
Over the streamlet __vapors are borne,  
_ _Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn..."_

The pair gleefully brought their fistfuls of ribbons to their mistress, twirling them around her, tying them to her arms, her waist, in her hair, handing some of them to her to hold. Then they began to dance.

 _"Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,  
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea..."  
_

It seemed to be the same dance that the young girl had been performing earlier, only with the pair of creatures framing her movements as they accompanied her. But there was something different about her movements - still elegant and graceful, but less _free_ with more control and calculation. Young Lady had been expressing an overflow of joy; this girl seemed almost seductive. Charming, but sinister. As their dance ended, the monsters left the stage while the girl sat in the chair, posing like her counterpart had a few minutes beforehand.

 _"Then will all clouds of sorrow depart..."_

At last, the artist was finished with his work, and he turned to share his joy with Young Lady, only to see her lifeless figure slumped on the ground. He rushed over to her, scooping her up into his arms, weeping over her dead body.

 _"Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me..."_

But something changed. Looking up, he saw the thing that he had created sitting in the chair, smiling at him, beckoning him with an outstretched hand. And, releasing the burden from his arms, without bothering to look at it, he reached his own hand out in return.

 _"Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me..."_

The music faded away slowly along with the lights, leaving a spotlight focused on the lady from the painting as she stood up and turned away from her creator, leaving him still reaching towards her, cast in shadow. She stared menacingly at the audience, raising her arms up and down slowly to the sound of huge, beating wings, which caused the ribbons to flutter about her. The chorus began to flap their arms along with her, giving the same menacing stare as they wordlessly announced the arrival of the raven. The video ended there just before the next scene.

Robin leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. He'd become emotionally invested in the scene without realizing it, a testament to the ability of the actors and actresses.

He'd definitely learned something about her. _'_ _The only question now,'_ he thought, _'is what to do next.'_ Then his stomach growled. It seemed that the immediate answer to his question would be lunch, the takeout pizza they'd ordered earlier.

* * *

"Yo, can someone pass the butter?"

"Ugh! Do you even know the way that dairy cows are treated in this country? You're supporting animal cruelty!"

"It's organic butter, Beast Boy, so the cows were probably grass-fed. You have nothing to worry about."

"But he's putting it on his _pizza crust_ _!_ You can't say that's not gross!"

"I will admit, that does seem like an excessive amount of solid fats for a single meal."

"That's what makes it taste good, girl!"

"Please, is there any more of the raspberry vinaigrette left within the machine of refrigeration?"

It was to this sort of chaos that the Titans spent their day together. The clatter of plates, the clamor of voices, and without exception, the rustle of newspaper. Robin had a morning ritual of reading through several entire papers (skimming over the gossip column) in case anything mentioned in one of the articles should pertain to their work, but since they'd skipped breakfast that morning to fight Red X, the ritual had been pushed back until lunchtime. Most of his attention was focused on the newsprint and the cup of coffee in his left hand, but he kept one ear on the conversation to make sure that things stayed under some level of control.

Beast Boy had given up on his tirade against Cyborg's diet, and was instead complaining about their lack of vacation time. "We never do anything fun together!" he whined. "Raven never wants to go anywhere with the rest of us."

"That's because your idea of 'fun' consists of an uncultured taste in entertainment," Raven quipped back. "If you wanted to do something worthwhile, I'd do it with you."

Meanwhile, as he was glancing over the advertisements, Robin caught sight of something that grabbed his attention. As Beast Boy opened his mouth to make an offended retort, the detective cut in, "How about we go and see a play?"

Raven lifted an eyebrow by a hair's width. "Depends on the play," she countered.

Robin set the paper down on the table and slid it across to the empath. " _Uncle Vanya_ , by Anton Chekhov," he informed her, gesturing towards the advertisement. "Opens tonight at JC Theatre." _And Josephine was in the cast list._

Raven looked over the article with raised eyebrows. "Chekhov is a good playwright, and I've never had a chance to see anything of his performed live before," she said in approval, with a small nod, before looking up at him questioningly. "But are you sure we'll be able to get tickets so late?"

"I have ways," he assured her with a mysterious smile. "So, what do you say?"

"I'm in," was the immediate response. "As long as the boys are able to handle being civilized for an evening."

" _Hey!_ " two voices objected simultaneously.

* * *

Shortly before seven o'clock that evening, the Titans, dressed appropriately for the occasion, were being ushered to their seats in the theater. "How on Earth did you manage to get us seats in the box on the afternoon of the opening performance?" Raven asked, mystified, as she sat down.

Robin shrugged. "We're this city's superheroes. Makes it pretty easy to pull few strings." He turned to help Starfire navigate the folding seat that was next to his.

"Still," Raven replied, shaking her head disbelievingly. "It must have taken some work. I'm impressed."

"When's it gonna start?" Beast Boy asked, pulling on the collar of his dress shirt.

"Should be in just a couple minutes," Cyborg said, glancing over his program. "It's almost seven."

"Look! The lights are blinking!" Starfire cried gazing upward.

"That means it's about to start. Quit fidgeting, would you?" Raven explained, with an rebuke directed towards the shapeshifter at the end. The team settled in as the curtain opened and the lights came up on stage.

* * *

All of them, even Beast Boy, were sucked into the world of _Uncle Vanya_. They groaned at the crotchety old professor, laughed at Vanya's antics, pitied poor Astrov, sympathized with Yelena Andrea, smiled on dear, sweet, old Maria, and wept with heartbroken Sonya. When the first gunshot went off, they all half started out of their seats in "hero mode", before looking at one another sheepishly and sharing a brief chuckle. When the curtain finally fell, their applause was as enthusiastic as that of anyone else in the audience.

"That was pretty cool," Beast Boy admitted.

"Astounding!" gushed Star.

"Just tugs at your heartstrings, huh?" asked Cyborg, still wiping away a tear.

Robin nodded in agreement. "It was pretty clear by the intermission that there wasn't going to be a happy ending, but I still want to see more - I don't want it to be over."

"That's what this play is famous for," Raven added. "The conclusion doesn't wrap things up in a tidy bow, but that's a lot like how life is in general. We don't get guarantees of a happily ever after; our choices always continue to effect us, and all we can really be sure of is what's already come pass. Look, the curtain call is starting."

The curtain was parting once more to reveal the cast standing in a line holding hands. They all bowed together, bending deeply before raising their linked arms in the air over their heads as they stood back up. As they straightened for the second time, the blonde girl who had played Sonya flicked her gaze up towards where Titans were sitting and, without turning her head, sent Robin a subtle wink.

 _'Tomorrow at the library; I'll be there,'_ he promised her in his mind as the curtain closed for the final time and the house lights came back up. _'Wouldn't miss it for the world.'_

* * *

 _A/N: Well, well, well! Hope you enjoyed the theatrical references in this chapter. All of the plays that have been and will be mentioned in this story are ones that I have been privileged to either attend, read, or take part in myself, so my representations should be fairly accurate. I did take a little bit of license with HONK! Jr.; since Penny doesn't actually ever sing by herself, the audience probably wouldn't have a clear idea of what her singing would be like, but I thought that it would be a fun little detail about "Jo-Jo" to include, so I snuck it in there. I apologize once again for not updating in so long, but I accidentally skipped over the things that I wanted include in this chapter when I started on next one, so I had to go back and start another document to put these events in . . . Ok enough excuses! On the other hand, what all that means is that I already have a significant portion written of the chapter after this one, so it should come out a little more quickly! Fingers crossed! It also gives you one last extra chance to figure out the mythological reference I've been making in this story, so be sure to leave a review if you think you've got it! Toodles!_


	6. The Real Story - Sorta, Anyways

_A/N: Hey guys! We're back! Thank you to those of you who reviewed and left comments/guesses on the reference. Now it's time to see if you're right!_

 _Disclaimer: Still here. Still don't own 'Teen Titans'._

* * *

Ryan pushed open the library front doors and walked through, at a normal pace this time. He had spent hours last night deliberating over whether he would follow through with promise to meet Josephine again, his thoughts haunted by numerous plausible disasters that awaited him should he step through those library doors. But there was something about her enigmatic manner, her shrouded background, the mystery that she represented and was herself, which allured and enthralled him. He felt an overwhelming conviction that he simply had to solve the puzzle presented by "Josephine X." In short, curiosity trumped both fear and logic, leading him back to the old moth-eaten building full of books.

He _really_ hoped that what he was about to do would be worth it.

He had arrived early in the hopes that he might have a chance to come to his senses and leave before Josephine even showed up, but she was already there, sitting at their table from yesterday in the back corner and looking over some papers she had brought with her. This was it, then.

He grew inwardly tense as he approached her; she, however, only looked up and greeted him with that brilliant smile of hers. He wasn't going to let it fluster him, though. He had already made a resolution: since probing and observing hadn't worked, it was time be direct.

"Josephine," he began firmly as he took a seat across from her. "I've had a lot of questions about you. And I need answers."

"Absolutely," she replied with complete seriousness, meeting his gaze directly. "What do you want to know?"

He opened his mouth, fully intending to finally elicit a true identity from her, but what really came out was, "You knew before, didn't you?"

She nodded in confirmation. "Since our second meeting."

All he could ask was, " _How?_ "

The corners of her lips tugged upwards. "You had the S.T.A.R.R. Labs address written in the corner of your notes. There's no way that kind of corporation would let you legally get your hands on their research. Only two thieves in Jump City both bold and skilled enough to successfully pull that kind of a heist off that I know of, and I was pretty sure that you weren't Slade. The inconsistencies and hesitations were another thing. If I had any doubts -" she shrugged "- it was settled when I saw the glove. Plus, the S.T.A.R.R. logo was watermarked onto the documents you scanned."

He shook his head ruefully, though he was definitely impressed. "Observant. I didn't have a chance at fooling you, did I?"

"Probably not," she agreed. "It was a good effort, though."

"Wait," he said as something occurred to him. "If you only figured it out after my second visit here, then why did you do the whole "X" thing when we first met? I'm assuming that isn't really your last name," he added.

She smiled again. "It's not. It's just a little joke that I like to play on new acquaintances to see how well they know their mythology."

" _Mythology?_ " he asked, utterly baffled. Josephine simply continued to grin at him. It was clear that she wanted him to figure this one out for himself.

"Josephine X," he enunciated slowly. The first thing he thought of was 'phoenix', but that wouldn't have made much sense, so he quickly dismissed it. After that, however, he couldn't come up with anything else.

"Need a hint?" she asked after a while.

"A hint? What is this, a riddle?" he replied jokingly. But the sparkle in her eyes seemed to say that he'd spoken something much more profound than her nonchalant shrug indicated. _Wait a minute._ "Riddles...Josephine X...s'phine, x..." he muttered under his breath. "The _Sphinx?_ "

"Ding, ding, ding," she confirmed teasingly, giving him a golf clap, since they were in library after all. "You've solved it."

"Well it certainly suits you," he said shaking his head ruefully. "Who even _are_ you really?"

Her expression immediately became serious. "Ever heard of the Poltergeist?"

"'Poltergeist'? Those are like ghosts, right?"

She lifted a stack of newsprint off of the chair beside hers and placed it on the table before pushing it towards Ryan. "Take a look at these."

He began skimming through the clippings, starting with a few short articles from several years ago about a series of strange robberies that was occurring, where every item that appeared to have been stolen turned up in the most unlikely locations. As time went on and police were still unable catch the person responsible, the articles began to gain more precedence. Then at last, the thief's own voice was heard for the first time, and the mystery cat burglar had given herself a name that screamed from front page headlines: _THE POLTERGEIST_. No prizes for guessing who _that_ really was.

He continued to read, until he came across an article that absolutely shocked him. "Even _Batman_ couldn't catch you?"

"I have to admit, he and Robin came very close," she confessed. "To be honest, I probably wouldn't have escaped if I hadn't managed to catch a lucky break at the last minute."

As Ryan continued to scan the pages of newsprint, a frown began to appear on his face. "There's just one thing I still don't get," he said. "If you were that good, if you were able to do that much - what made you give that up?" He held up a sheet that asked, _APPAR_ _ITION_ _VANIS_ _HES?_ _T_ _HE_ _POLTERGEI_ _ST_ _HA_ _S_ _DISAPPEARED._

"Ah," she replied with a small smile, as though she had been expecting that question. "That is a story which I unfortunately don't have time to relate right now, because I have to be somewhere in twenty minutes. But for now, take this -" she handed him a small rectangle of printed paper "- and if you want to hear the story, be back here at ten a.m. the day after you use it."

Ryan examined it: a ticket to a stage performance of Anton Chekhov's _Uncle Vanya_ at the Jump City Theatre, dated two weeks ahead. He opened his mouth to ask her a question, but she had already left. He looked the ticket over once more. Looked like he was going to the theater.

* * *

Robin had snuck out of the library just before Josephine left, having seen everything he needed to of meeting. He had come to hide in an alleyway that he knew was along her route to the bus stop and waited until he saw her passing by to materialize out of the shadows beside her. Without stopping or turning to look at him, she gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

"So the whole time, _you_ were the Poltergeist?" he asked. He shook his head ruefully after she gave him a slightly shy nod. "Now I'm beginning to understand why we couldn't catch you."

She laughed a little. "Believe me, if that garbage truck hadn't come along at just the right time, you would've."

He shook his head again. "Now that I've actually met you, I'm not so sure." A pause. "So why _did_ you give it up?"

She smiled ever so slightly. "I think you've already figured it out yourself," she replied softly. "But if you really want to make sure, you could always come back to the library and do some more research."

By that time, they'd reached the bus stop, and she finally turned to face him. They nodded to each other, knowing that no goodbyes were necessary - after all, they'd be seeing one another again in a little over two weeks. The bus was just pulling up as a stoplight-colored figure bounded off across the rooftops.

* * *

 _A/N: And another chapter is complete! Sorry if the ending is a little choppy, but I just really wanted to get this out before too long. And yes, the Sphinx! Miss Josephine is named after the character who turns out to actually be the Sphinx in the 'Class_ _of the Titans' episode titled "Breathtaking Beauty". However, as I made clear at the beginning of this story, she NOT at all like the Josephine X from COTT (except for being mysterious, of course) as should be pretty obvious to anyone who's seen that episode for themselves. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts and/or notify me of any typos in a review, and see you next chapter!_


	7. The Full Real Story

_A/N: Back with another chapter! Yeah, I know, it's been a long time. I finally have my own device to type on now, though! Yay!_

 _Disclaimer: I don't own 'Teen Titans', or_ Uncle Vanya _, or_ Ariadne's Thread _(you'll get it once you've read the chapter). Now, hark ye hence! (That means "go", kid.)_

* * *

As Ryan slipped into the theater, no one payed him much attention. As this would be the last performance of _Uncle Vanya_ for this run, the theater wasn't as full it had been for some of the earlier showings. His seat was near the back, so he had the pleasure of not needing squeeze past anyone to get there, or vice versa.

He was still puzzling over why exactly he was _here_ as the house lights began to flash and the director took to the stage to give his speech for the final performance. Why had Josephine sent him to see a play? What could the theater possibly have to do with her career as a thief?

He forced himself to put his musings on hold as the curtains opened. He figured he was going to have to pay attention if he truly wanted to answer any of his questions.

Then the story began, and he was sucked in completely. The world of this Russian country estate enveloped him, this quaint, absurd family that was tearing apart at the seams. Parents and children at odds with one another across multiple generations, a whole way of life thrown into disarray, thwarted love at every turn. He was completely and utterly captivated.

When the intermission came, he had to stop and take a moment to just _breathe_. He had never really seen a dramatic production like this before, and he wasn't used to the immersive quality of it. Why should he even _care_ about these people? After all, the only big concern he ever had was for his own self. He was trying very hard not to freak out too much that he, who always prided himself on remaining detached from everything around him, had been so greatly affected by something that wasn't even _real_.

And yet that was exactly the point, wasn't it? It had all _felt_ real; the people up on that stage had gotten him to believe the story that they were telling, to believe in the world that existed solely in that one hundred fifty square feet of space in front of him and in his own mind.

The idea scared him almost as much as it enthralled him.

He needed to keep his head clear, though. As the lights dimmed at the end of the intermission, he reminded himself that if he could battle five teenage superheroes all at the same time without losing his composure, then he could sit here in an air conditioned theater and watch a play while keeping command of himself.

The thought did nothing to change his response to the performance. From the moment the curtains went up until the final curtain call he was on the very edge of his seat, completely absorbed. And as much as he hated the feeling of not being in control of himself, he was mostly dwelling on it in order to avoid admitting that he also loved it.

He shook his head as the house lights came back on and the audience began filing out of their seats. Even when she was providing him with "answers" all she provoked were more questions.

* * *

As he walked into the library the next morning, he looked towards their usual table and, sure enough, there she was waiting for him. She caught sight of him at the same time and offered him a smile and a wave as he approached.

"So, how was _Uncle Vanya_?" she asked as soon as he had slid into his seat.

"I got way more into it than I should've," he grudgingly admitted, and she laughed, quietly, so as not to disturb the other library patrons. "But it was _really_ good."

"What did you think of Sonya?" she wanted to know.

He considered for a moment before replying, "I really liked her. Whoever the actress was did a good job at making me sympathize with her. Although, in my opinion, she was way too good-looking to play the role of a woman who 'isn't pretty'."

She pressed her hands to her chest as if she were smitten. "I'm flattered."

He squinted at her in confusion before it finally clicked. "You mean - _you_ were Sonya?"

She gave him a look then, the same pitiful expression that Sonya wore when she had despaired about not being "pretty" enough for Astrov, down to the last tiny wrinkle between her brows.

"But," he sputtered, still in disbelief, "I looked over the cast list in the program last night, and I would've remembered if I'd seen a 'Josephine'."

"Jo-Jo is my stage name," she replied cheerfully. "A lot of actors have them."

He shook his head, still trying to wrap his mind around it all. "So that's why you gave up being the Poltergeist?" he asked, trying to connect this newfound information to their previous conversation. "Because you wanted to become an actor?"

The smile faded from her face. "I think I'd better explain more fully. Let me tell you my story."

Seeing the solemnity of her expression, he resolved to listen carefully as she began to speak.

"I was always bored as a kid starting from about junior high. All my classes were way too easy, and my foster parents didn't care enough to get me put in advanced courses. So I spent most of my time in class doodling, and my time outside of class doing handsprings and backflips. I started sneaking out at night because I wanted to see how far I could travel through the city without touching the ground. The rooftops became my secret playground.

"At first, that was all it was. Just running around and having fun doing it. Then I started testing myself more and more, always trying to get farther from home and higher above the ground than the night before. I would find myself at the top of skyscrapers housing the bases of wealthy tech companies and business corporations, and I would always be amused at how easy it would be to slip past all of those fancy security systems that they were so confident in. Then one night I thought to myself, 'Why not give it a try?' So, I climbed to the top of one of the buildings and slipped in through the ventilation shafts. In thirty minutes, I was inside one of the rooms were various prototypes that were being experimented with were kept. I was incredibly proud of myself, but a little disappointed, too. After all, this was the biggest accomplishment of my life so far, and no one else was going to know about it. But thinking about it gave me an idea.

"I grabbed a model of a robotic arm that was being developed, something small enough to carry through the vents with me. I brought it out of the building and placed it on the ledge that separated the seventh and eighth floors before heading back home for the night. They got it down pretty quickly the next morning, but not before it was all over the news. I was so thrilled that I decided to make it a habit, and within a few weeks I was famous for what I was doing, and nobody had any idea who I was. That was when they called Batman in to help.

"They needed a master detective to solve the mystery of whoever was "stealing" everything, and he was the obvious choice. And when he and Robin came down one weekend to investigate, I couldn't resist the chance to show off a little and prove to the world that I could outsmart anyone. I decided to meet the Dynamic Duo mask to mask."

She paused here to laugh at herself. "Stupidest mistake of my life. Robin and I exchanged a little banter, which is when I told them that I called myself the Poltergeist. I matched wits with the Boy Wonder pretty well, but it quickly turned out that the actual chase was a lot more than I'd bargained for. It was all I could do not to get caught. It was around six thirty in the morning when I was finally able to get away by jumping into a garbage truck that was driving by at just the right moment. They were able to track it, of course, but it got me out of their sight long enough to slip away and head back home, with just enough time to take a shower before heading to school. I was dead on my feet that whole day, and I'd learned my lesson about trying to fight Batman head on. The rest of the time they were there, I kept my head down during the night; besides, I needed to catch up on the sleep I'd lost. As soon as the coast was clear, though, I was back to my old habits.

"That was pretty much how things went until the second half of my freshman year in high school. One day it happened that neither of my foster parents was able to pick me up for at least an hour after school let out, so I was stuck on campus with nothing to do. I was just wandering around aimlessly until I saw that the Drama Club was having a meeting then, and I thought, ' _Might as_ _well see what's going on_ ,' and walked in.

"I don't believe in love at first sight, but this was an exception. I'd gotten a glimpse of a world where you could be anyone but yourself, and I was in love. After that I would sit in on all of their meetings whenever it was possible, until the teacher finally asked if I was interested in officially joining. I couldn't have said no.

"Things started to change a little as I became more involved in the club. I didn't go out as much at night so that I could have enough energy for acting, but it didn't bother me too much. I figured that I could always go back to my midnight adventures if I ever got bored with drama. But I hadn't counted on the teacher figuring out who I was. He experience allowed him to see right through me, and he confronted me about it one afternoon. I didn't take it too well at first, but over time he helped me to come to terms with giving up the Poltergeist for good."

She smiled at him again. "And I think you can guess how things went from there."

There was silence for a moment as she looked down at her hands. He was about to ask another question when she spoke up again, more quietly this time: "You know, Ryan, we're alike in a lot of ways. We both want recognition, or fame - you could even call it notoriety. We like to perplex everyone around us. But most importantly, we _hate_ being bored. We always want to be doing something challenging, especially if it's _fun_. I can see it, in the way you are behind the mask, the way you've acted here. But it's not right to find that kind of fulfillment in thievery, even if it's harmless. It took me a while to really grasp that, but once I did, I realized that I was lucky not having to learn it the hard way. And you haven't yet either, but no matter how good you are or how much better you may get, somewhere along the way you're going to mess up, and it's not going to be pretty."

She looked up then, and he found himself trapped by the intensity of her gaze. "Let me help you understand," she pleaded with him.

He took a deep breath. "What exactly are you suggesting?"

He had tried to keep his tone as neutral as possible, but she smiled as if he had wholeheartedly agreed. "The JC Theatre is going to start hiring soon for a new show called _Ariadne's Thread_ ," she began.

He instantly saw where she was going with this. "I don't know..." he started to say, but she held up a finger to stop him.

"Before you try to say that you've never acted before," she said, "what would you call the thing that you're doing when you have the mask on?"

"Point taken," he conceded. "But are you really sure about this? I don't really have what you would call 'professional' experience."

She smiled slyly. "Don't worry too much about that. I've got a pretty good shot at the female lead for this one, and I can try to pull a few strings. At the very least, I can get you in as an extra." She put on a pleading face. "Please, just try it. Just to see it you like it or not."

He recognized a lot of "Sonya" in the expression, but he was ready to give in anyways. "Fine, but I'm not making any commitments."

"Of course not." She turned on the full brilliance of her smile. "We'll meet at my apartment tomorrow afternoon to read lines together. I can text you the address. One o'clock sound good?"

"As good as any other time," he replied, pushing back his chair. "See you then."

* * *

Robin watched from behind the stacks as the two parted ways. It had only just occurred to him that he had two wanted criminals easily within his grasp; he had gained all the information he needed to capture and turn them in to the authorities.

But was that really what he wanted to do? After all, "the Poltergeist" had retired, and he could tell that she had truly changed her thinking as well as her ways. She had given her identity up to him, after all. And it seemed that she was doing her best to get Red X to do the same.

With these two, there was no telling what could happen over the next few weeks. He might as well wait to see how things turned out between them.

* * *

 _A/N: Well, it took forever, but this chapter_ finally _came out! I got stuck at a couple different points along the way, but we're here now! I won't say much more, because I really just want to get this out, but thank you to all of you who have stuck with it! Until next chapter!_


	8. Auditions

_A/N: Aaand we're back once again! I admit, this story was starting to run away from me a little, but I'm pretty sure I've got it under control now! At least I hope I do. Sorry it took so long, though._

 _Disclaimer: Still don't own it. Moving on._

* * *

Ryan got a text from Josephine the next morning:

 _hey ryan! srry but we cant meet at my apartment today for lines. pipe burst upstairs and its leaking through my ceiling. supposed to take all day to fix_ ;-;

He hesitated for a moment, then replied:

 _we could meet at my place. not much but its quiet, most of the time. if u don't mind that is._

 _don't worry ryan, i trust u. or i wouldnt have asked you over in the first place._ XD _sounds great! just send me the address._

Which is how he ended up inviting Josephine over to his apartment that afternoon.

* * *

There was a knock on the door at one o' clock sharp, and he opened it to see her brilliant smile. "Hi," she greeted him cheerfully.

"Hi," he replied. "Come on in."

She looked around as she stepped into over the threshold, her eyes widening at the sight of the cabbage crates. "You weren't kidding when you said it wasn't much."

He shrugged. "Keeps the rain off."

He spoke casually, but in reality he was rather self-conscious about his living conditions. Perhaps Josephine noticed this, but in any case she thankfully didn't mention anything else on the subject. Instead she took a seat on an upturned crate and pulled a stack of papers out of her bag. "So, this director has a little bit of a different way of doing things for auditions. I mean, he has us read like you normally would for an audition the first time. But then, when he does callbacks, he'll call back groups of people and have each person take a part and read the scene out together. He says that way he can get a feel for character and group dynamics before he locks people into parts." She laid some of the papers on top of another crate. "These are some of the scenes that he's picked out. Oh, and there's the character list."

Ryan took a seat opposite her and skimmed over the list. _Theseus_ and _Ariadne_ he recognized, but: "Asterion?"

"The Minotaur's name," Josephine explained without looking up from the papers she was holding. "Pretty sure it means 'little star'."

"Huh," he replied. It sounded so - _human_. "I guess I never really thought about the Minotaur having a name -"

"- Besides 'the Minotaur'?" she finished. "I've noticed that these plays that are geared towards student ages tend to include a lot of thought-provoking themes. For example, we always tend to think that the Minotaur was a fearsome monster. But was he naturally a monster, or was he forced to become one through rejection and ostracism?"

He was at a loss as to how to answer, but she continued on without noticing: "Anyways, we should probably get started. My afternoon shift starts at three, and I'd like to go over at least half of Ariadne's lines today."

"Yeah, sure," he replied, mentally shaking himself out of his daze. "So, who do you want me to read for first?"

* * *

Three hours later, Ryan sat reclined against a crate, flipping through the pages of lines that Josephine had left for him. They'd ended up making it through all of Ariadne's provided lines, along with those of the other characters in those scenes, and so they'd begun to explore which of the male characters that Ryan might be interested in playing. They'd only been able to read through a few together, but so far he found himself partial to the role of the innkeeper. The part involved a kind of smooth and easy confidence very similar to what he was used to portraying as Red X, and it was small enough that he actually had some chance of getting it. A very small chance, true, but a chance nevertheless.

Once again he had been surprised by Josephine's own ability to take on the persona of her character. She experimented with all different inflections, tones, and registers, so that he never knew if in the next scene he would be sitting across from a dignified, heroic queen or a timid and petulant child. One thing he did know for certain: no other actress would stand a chance against her at the audition.

She had teased him about trying out for Theseus, but he had shaken his head at her. "I'm not really big on the 'hero' types," he'd said, and they'd both left it at that.

He was actually somewhat excited in spite of himself at the prospect of this new opportunity. He wasn't even entirely sure why. Of course, there was the fact that he'd be spending a lot more time getting to know Josephine. But still.

Try as he might, he couldn't deny that he was looking forward to it.

* * *

Ryan picked at the frayed cuff of his jacket. It was the only thing he could think of to keep from going crazy with nervousness on the hot, crowded bus.

"Pre-audition jitters?"

He looked over at Josephine, who appeared to be perfectly composed as she occupied the seat beside him, sitting on her hands.

"You know, saying that it happens to everyone the first time doesn't help," he replied, really not wanting to hear sagely words of comfort at that moment.

She frowned at him, pretending to be offended. "Do you really think I'd be so _cliché_?" she asked. "It is true, though. And not just the first time." She pulled her right hand out from under her thigh and held it out to him: it was shaking like she was eighty rather than eighteen. On an impulse, he took her hand and squeezed it gently. She was surprised at first, but then gave a little squeeze back and smiled at him. It wasn't as blindingly brilliant as her usual smile, but it made his pulse quicken all the same.

From the bus stop, it was a short walk to the Theatre, a large building sitting at the top of a small flight of concrete steps. As soon as they stepped through the double doors, Ryan heard someone shriek " _JoJo!_ " just before Josephine was tackled by what seemed to be a mass of curly red hair.

Within about thirty seconds, Josephine was enveloped by a swarm of people who all seemed to know her and each other, but the overlap of conversations was too thick for him to make out anything. Until one of the guys in the crowd asked, "Who's your friend over here?" And suddenly, everyone was looking at him.

Fortunately, he managed to play it cool (at least he hoped so) as Josephine introduced him: "This is Ryan. He's pretty new to the stage, but he definitely has talent. Of course, he could probably use work on his variety, but he's got some real potential all the same."

One of the taller guys stepped forward to shake his hand. "Name's Ethan. I'm trying out for Theseus. Good to meet you, Ryan. As long as you're not going to pose any competition to me, that is." He grinned to show he was joking before pretending to carefully look Ryan over. "You do look like a generally villain-type."

Ryan contorted his face into an expression between mild confusion and being miffed. "Excuse me?"

A peal of high-pitched, bubbling laughter rang out. "Guess he doesn't need to work on variety as much as I thought," Josephine said through her giggles. "C'mon, Ryan. I'll show you where to go."

* * *

He came off the stage with a long exhale. For all the stress and worry he'd put into it, his actual audition had passed by in rather a blur. He knew he had done his best to act oily like the character, but other than that, he wasn't quite sure what exactly had happened.

Josephine appeared at his side with a cheerful smile. "How'd it go?"

He took another deep breath. "Nerve-wracking."

She took his hand and squeezed it like he had done for her on the bus. "I'm sure you did great. I'll let you know when the list for callbacks is out."

He nodded. "Thanks." He forced himself not to hesitate before the next part: "For right now, how does lunch sound? My treat."

Her eyes widened in surprise just like they had on the bus. Then, she gave him the same smile. "Lunch sounds wonderful."

* * *

 _A/N: Whew, I finally got this all out. I kinda lost the thread of where I was going with this, but I think I've got it now! This chapter is a little bit longer than the some of the others, though, and hopefully you liked the fluff that I tried to mix in! Unfortunately, updates on this will probably continue to be slow; I'm still working up to the next point that I've already had a grand vision of inspiration for. Between those few places, it's a lot of hard slogging. However, I do promise that I'm going to see this all the way through, no matter how long it takes! Until next chapter!_


End file.
